http://www.care2.com/greenliving/aromatic-carpet-freshener.html
Aromatic Carpet Freshener
Adapted from The Essential Oils Book, by Colleen K. Dodt (Storey Books, 1996).
This author has two indoor/outdoor cats, Rosemary and Buddy, and
she has never had any problem with them having fleas, which she
attributes to the consistent use of this carpet freshener.
Many have never thought about using pure essential oils in their cleaning routines, but as we become increasingly aware as a society of the
environmental hazards of chemical pesticides and cleaners, pure
essential oils become a natural alternative to enhance our home
and lives in a natural, environmentally friendly way.
Start with a box of borax, available in the detergent section at the grocery store. (This is the aisle I spend the least amount of time in because of the strong chemical smells and overpowering artificial perfumes that scent all the products.)
To 2 cups of borax, add 25 drops of pure essential oil. Make sure the drops of oil are crushed well and evenly distributed in the borax. To apply it to the carpet or rug, try shaking it off a large spoon or out of a large can with a shaker lid. An old powder bottle works well.
I have two indoor/outdoor cats, Rosemary and Buddy, and I have never had any problem with fleas on them. I attribute this to the consistent use of the borax mixture on my rugs and carpets. If you go into a pet supply store and ask for a natural flea repellant, they will often suggest products manufactured in Florida that contain sweet orange oil. However, using sweet orange oil directly on an animal is not recommended.
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3 comments
add your comment »I just "Boraxed" my carpet today, don't worry about the dogs and cats ;) They were quarantined downstairs for the 30+ minutes I let the Borax "settle" - and the 10-20 minutes it took to vaccuum it up. Good point of the essential oils.
Something weird though, my mother noticed the carpet was "lighter" - did the Borax "clean" the carpet? Or did I just "miss" some spots vacuuming up? lol. Previously, the dogs had the "run of the house" - so there were urine spots all over, and yea, after she said it, I too noticed it looked a bit "cleaner" lol. Tomorrow I'll try giving it a run through with the steam cleaner/shampooer with vinegar/water solution.
My only problem was finding an easy way of "coating" the carpet...I basically took the open/flap box, and jiggled it around in both hands to lightly sprinkle the carpet, but obviously, there were some "chunks" that made there way on the carpet....
Any other suggestions? I've read of the "condiment bottles" for like mayo, ketchup, mustard, with the small, almost pin-hole sized tip, and the "soft squishy" bottle, to "whiff out" the borax (or baking soda for deodorizing?) onto the carpet.
The other thing I was thinking was to re-used a cleaned out parmesan container, since it has those "bigger" holes...and it can be easily refillable too even....
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I just did some reading on the use of borax around the house; it is a skin irritant and can be toxic to both humans and pets. I wouldn't recommend putting this on your carpet unless you were certain that nothing remained after vacuuming.
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I just did this. I added tangerine oil, lime oil, eucalyptus, and lavender. I chose the tangerine and lime for their refreshing smells and for the citrus effect on fleas. I used the eucalyptus for it's flea repellent properties and the lavender for it's anti-microbial properties. My carpets and my whole house smell divine!
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